Israel Cannot Blame Antisemitism Alone for Global Condemnation

Haaretz

Nov 28, 2023

In recent weeks, Israel and Israelis have had new, serious enemies competing with their longtime strategic foe, Iran. These aren’t Hamas or Islamic Jihad, but rather demonstrators in the streets, on campuses, and opposite Israeli embassies in Europe and the United States. They have one particularly hated slogan: “Free Palestine,” or in its longer version: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

If you thought this was only driving Israeli right-wingers crazy, you’re wrong. It’s also riling leading left-wingers and people who, until the October 7 Hamas attack on Israeli border communities, were stalwart advocates for human rights. Israelis claim that the slogan is a clear call for the destruction of the State of Israel – pure antisemitism.

There has been a range of Israeli reactions to the pro-Palestinian tide: online public diplomacy, amused newspaper articles, sketches on the satirical TV show “Eretz Nehederet,” and political cartoons. There are jokes about bored, privileged Europeans or Americans who feel they’re at the forefront of a fight they don’t understand and ultimately damage the Palestinians.

Israelis argue that they even know which river or sea is being referred to and that Islam will soon take control of their own countries and destroy them, just as Hamas took control in the Gaza Strip and has tried to destroy Israel. These Israelis call on the demonstrators to come to their senses and realize that Israel is the good guy and Hamas and Islam are the bad guys.

Students participate in a protest in support of Palestine and for free speech outside the Columbia University campus in New York, earlier this month.Credit: Spencer Platt - Getty Images via AFP

Frankly, I don’t know whether all the pro-Palestinian demonstrators have a coherent ideology, whether they support a two-state solution or one state. Maybe they’re just antisemites, and I don’t intend to be their advocate.

But instead of being concerned with all this Judith Butler, Greta Thunberg, and Angelina Jolie, Jewish Voice for Peace, the international left wing, and everything else in existence, Israelis need to ask themselves how things got to this point.

A quick tour of social media will suffice. You can easily get an unfortunate impression of the state of affairs from Israeli public officials’ video translated by Google Translate. Danny Danon, Israel’s former UN ambassador, is suggesting that Gaza’s residents agree to voluntary expulsion.


Protesters show placards during a pro-Palestinian protest in London, last month.Credit: Alberto Pezzali /AP

Ayelet Shaked, the former justice minister, is looking forward to the day when Israel turns the city of Khan Yunis in Gaza into a soccer field. Amichai Eliyahu, the heritage minister, thinks an atomic bomb on Gaza is an option, while Otzma Yehudit Knesset member Limor Son Har-Melech is praying for the reoccupation of Gaza.

Then there are the TikTok videos of Israeli soldiers in Gaza laughing about the hunger of residents there and troops filming themselves blowing up houses, as a soldiers stands at a DJ control board in the background timing the blasts to the beat. But most importantly, people are seeing the horrific scenes from Gaza that aren’t shown on Israeli channels.

And it’s not just the events of the past month or so. It’s more and more settlement construction, the occupation, the blockade on and bombardment of Gaza, the IDF spokesman lying, the IDF spokesman lying again, etc.


A protester waves a flag at a rally held in support of Palestinians at Columbia University in New York earlier this month.Credit: EDUARDO MUNOZ/ REUTERS

Over the past decade and a half, the world has marched toward a conversation about occupation, colonialism, and human rights, while in Israel, the common, mainstream discourse has stalled over whether or not there’s such a thing as a Palestinian people.

Young people around the world are opposed to militarism and the military, while their Israeli counterparts have been shifting to the right, becoming more racist and ignorant. That’s the image that Israel projects to the liberal world – a racist, occupying country that has been systematically killing Palestinians for years.

You can condescendingly laugh about the “snowflake” protesters all you want, but they’re not going anywhere. Because they represent the future, while Israel has, it has to be admitted, been stuck in the past for too long.

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